Ohhhhhh Benicia. First off, what a cool little town! Reminds me a bit of Alameda; historical landmarks, views of the bay, downtown street scenes with quaint boutiques. I didn't get to fully explore everywhere. I wish I had the opportunity to get to know the area before the event, but other things got in the way. The Benicia Plein Air Gallery hosted the event and it was their first paint out. About 40 something artist came to participate. We had about 6 hours of painting time starting from 8am-3pm. Show went up at 4pm, so we had some framing time. Oh right, and we're only allowed to show ONE painting. It was a great turn out. Especially for their first one.

I carpooled with Yvonne. They gave us a map with popular locations and we decided to visit the marina featuring all the boats. I was torn between a few spots. First painting I did was a view of water tanks, boats, and the bridge in the background. It came out alright. I struggled a bit on the tanks and I overworked the foreground. It was a bit unsettling. Maybe I shouldn't have picked such a crowded spot that required a lot of drawing for my first painting.

The second painting came out a bit better. Definitely less drawing. Stephen Berry, one of the coordinators of the event and also a watercolor painter came out to paint a little bit with us during his down time. While Yvonne and I were painting the boats, he was off painting my next target, the oil refinery and Mt. Diablo. He had a great spot, so we ended up going to where he was for our second painting. I had a lot of fun with this one. I Felt more relaxed and focused more on painting loose than tightening up. I liked them both, but I ended up using the second painting as my entry.

The juror was artist John Finger. The Mayor of Benicia was also there to hand out awards. It's really pleasant to see the Mayor be involved with the arts and community. I didn't place, but I managed to snag an honorable mention! I didn't get all the names of the other winners, but a couple of them were familiar faces from the Frank Bette Paint Out.

Cash prizes were given to the 1st-3rd place winners. All award winners also get a pick from the stash of art supplies. There were panels, oil paints, sketchbooks, inks, so a wide variety of things to choose from. I was last to pick and whattya know, no one selected this beauty! It's a metal tri-fold palette with 12 half pans by Shmincke. It came in a leather case with a pencil and a brush! I say I came out with a pretty cool prize. Another one added to the collection.

Overall I had a cool experience. A little flustered in the beginning, but I pulled through. I definitley would've explored the area beforehand and will do so for any future plein air events. One day events are a little hectic, but they force you to make something solid. I hope the Benicia plein air gallery will continue to do this cause I'll be returning! On to the next! Actually, this may be the end of plein air events for the year, so....maybe next year? Anyway, on to the next art event! Next one should be in Oakland sometime in October and then Hawaii in January. Which reminds me to remind you....visit this link and help us (Epekto Art Projects) get there!!